Wasted Youth
by BodhiDixon
Summary: What's supposed to be a typical day at school ends in a fatal disaster for one of them when two gunmen start to shoot up Riverdale and everyone in it. Archie has just grabbed his Math book when two loud successive bangs echo through the school. Then it's Chaos. People are screaming and running. It's complete and utter Chaos. (WARNING MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH, SCHOOL SHOOTING, SUICIDE


The light streaming through Archie's curtains was the only thing that brought his cocooned body out of slumber. Well that, and the incessant blaring of his alarm clock. Groaning Archie leans over slamming his hand down on his alarm clock, effectively silencing it before turning away from the sun's rays, huffing in annoyance.

Archie stubbornly lays there for a few more minutes trying to fall back to sleep, but his efforts are fruitless. Sighing, he cracks his eyes open and throws his legs over the side of the bed.

After rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Archie gets to his feet and ambles over to the door to his bathroom to take a shower and get ready for school.

Twenty minutes later, finds Archie making his way downstairs into the kitchen where his Dad is cooking eggs.

"Morning" Archie smiles at his dad, taking a seat at the kitchen dinner table and pulling a plate of freshly made toast towards himself.

Fred glances over at his son and smiles, taking the eggs off the stove and putting some onto Archie's plate. "Sleep well? Kiddo" Fred asks, sitting across from his son.

Archie looks up from his plate. He swallows his mouthful before shrugging "Yeah, it was pretty good. I would've liked to sleep in though" he grins.

"Haha, well school starts in fifteen minutes. So finish up here, and I'll drop you off on my way to work. How's that sound?" Fred asks, Archie smiles and nods "That'd be great, thanks, Dad".

They finish breakfast while talking about anything and everything, before heading out to the truck after locking up.

Fred slides into the driver seat and glances over at Archie "So how's your music going, Arch?" as soon as he asked, Archie's face lit up, and then they spent the whole drive to school, discussing Arch's music.

Fred pulls into the school park, coming to a stop near the gutter. Just as Archie is getting out of the car, Fred puts his hand on his son's shoulder to get his attention.

Archie turns to his father in confusion, "Yeah?" he questions. Fred just smiles squeezing his boy's shoulder "I'm just proud of you, have a good day kid, I love you".

"Thanks, Dad and I love you too. I've got football practice this afternoon, so I'll be home late" Archie smiles back at his dad.

After saying goodbye, Archie heads inside.

Making his way towards his locker, Archie smiles and nods at everyone who greets him. When he finally reaches his locker, Jughead is leaning beside it grinning at him.

"Uh, Prince Charming made it through his swarms of worshippers" Jug smirks. Archie chuckles unlocking his locker and grabbing the books he'll need for his classes.

"Really? Juggie" Archie laughs shutting his locker, heading in the direction of his first class.

Jughead falls into step beside him "C'mon Arch. You know it's true" Jug chuckles. "I'm just like everyone else in this school, Jug" Archie mumbles, glancing at Jughead.

Jug hums and then grins, smacking Archie on the shoulder "So did you hear, Betty finally got the guts and asked Veronica out".

Archie pauses in his step before grinning at Jug "About time!", Jug nods in agreement heading into their first class.

The next few hours pass uneventful, and then the bell rings signalling lunch time.

Archie gathers his books and shoves them into his backpack before heading outside to their regular table.

Archie takes his seat, Jughead quickly takes the seat beside him, which has become a regular thing as of late but Arch pays it no mind.

"So I heard the good news" Archie smiles over at Betty and Veronica who are cosied up together on the bench across from Jug and himself.

Betty blushes and Veronica smirks "Yeah, she's off limits now" Veronica smirks mischievously. Archie throws his head back laughing before nodding in the direction of Betty.

"I don't think she was planning on dating anyone else, V" Archie chuckles, taking a bite of his sandwich.

The four of them continue talking for the rest of lunch, and by the time the bell rings, Jughead and Archie are almost on each other's laps. Knees and shoulders pressed close as they laugh and joke with Betty and Veronica.

All four of them make their way towards the library for their study period. Just as they hit the door of the library, Archie swears softly "Shit".

Looking at his friends confused faces he blushes softly "I forgot my AP Math book. I'll be back in a few minutes. Save me a seat!" Archie abashedly smiles.

With that Archie's off jogging down the hallway before his friends can reply.

Archie has just grabbed his Math book when two loud successive bangs echo through the school.

Then it's Chaos.

People are screaming and running. It's complete and utter Chaos.

Archie grabs someone as their running past him, "What's going on?" Archie asks the terrified student.

Tugging his arm free the guy "Two men are shooting up the school! Mr Jenkins and three other students are already dead, man!", and with that, he's off running.

Archie's blood freezes, face going pale.

Two shooters, in their school, killing people with no remorse.

Another six shots, nearby spur Archie into action, he drops his book and takes off running towards the library, completely forgoing the exit door only meters away from him.

His own safety is the last thing on his mind right now.

Meanwhile in the library, Betty, Veronica and Jughead have just taken their seats at a table that's occupied already by Kevin.

Jughead sits down, placing his backpack on the seat beside him for Archie before leaning back in his chair.

"Where's the golden boy? Kevin asks, looking around the library for Archie. Veronica looks up from her phone "Grabbing a book from his locker" she supplies before glancing back down at her phone.

Kevin is about to say something when he's cut off by two loud bangs coming from somewhere inside the school.

Suddenly the library is dead quiet.

"Was that?"

"That sounded like a-"

"Gunshot" Jughead finishes, looking just as pale as everyone else.

From behind the library doors, they hear people screaming and running. Followed by the sound of six more gunshots.

One of the teachers from the library quickly ushers everyone to hide and stay quiet.

Jughead, Veronica, Betty and Kevin quickly crawl under the table, while everyone else in the library does the same, hiding under tables and behind shelves.

From outside the door, they hear someone running and screaming, followed by a gunshot that cuts the scream off.

Betty whimpers, tears streaming down her cheeks, while Veronica is shaking beside Jughead. Throughout the library are quiet and muffled whimpers.

Jughead remembers that Archie went back for his book which was in the direction the first shots sounded from and his blood runs cold.

Without any thought, he's climbing out from under the table and heading towards the door, but just as he reaches for the handle, one of the teachers grabs him and pulls him down away from the door.

"Are you crazy! you can't go out there!" Mr Hughes whispers. Jughead tries to fight off his grip "Let me go! I need to get Archie! He's out there!" Jughead panics trying to reach for the door.

"Sit down! Sit down now!" Mr Hughes snaps, pushing Jughead back to the safety of the table he was under.

Suddenly the doors swing open and everyone whimpers.

But it's a pale Archie who has blood on his Varsity Jacket.

Archie quickly shuts the doors behind himself and hurriedly starts to barricade the door with anything he can grab.

"What the hell man?" Reggie asks Archie who's still manically barricading the door shut.

Archie turns his wild eyes onto everyone who has slowly come out of hiding including his best friends who are all staring at him wide eyed and scared except for Jug who just looks relieved to see him.

"There's two shooters, their killing any and everybody. They're just shooting up the school!" Archie says, scrambling to grab things.

Jughead notices the red staining Archie and panics "Oh my god! Are you hit? Are you hurt!?" Jughead rambles.

Archie pauses and looks down at himself looking shell-shocked.

"I don't know...I was right next to Jenny Mandickson, and he just blew her head off man" Archie answers looking at the blood on his jacket and hands.

"We need to get the hell out of here!" Reggie yells running for the barricaded door, but he stops when shots go off just outside the door now.

Mrs Norlene and Mr Hughes gesture for the kids to hide and they scramble back into their hiding places. Jughead quickly grabs Archie and pulls him under the table next to himself and the others.

Archie turns to Betty and grabs her hand "You're gonna be okay, Betty" he promises, before moving to Jug.

Jug reads the fear and uncertainty in Archie's eyes, but there's also something else in there that he couldn't read.

And then it hits him.

There's determination in Archie Andrews eyes. The determination to keep his friends safe.

A loud bang echoes through the library as the door starts to shake, from someone ramming into it. The barricade shakes and then a second person joins in on slamming into the door.

Mr Hughes quickly gets up and tries to push it closed but with one final ram from the other side of the door, the barricade crumbles and the door swings open with a slam on the wall.

Jughead slips his hand over Veronica's mouth while Archie does the same to Betty to muffle their cries.

"Please don't do this. Please, you don't have to do th-" Mr Hughes' begging is cut off by a gunshot and the thud of a body hitting the floor.

Someone from in the library screams, but it's quickly muffled.

But it's too late. The shooters have already heard it.

After that, the only sound is students from within the library being found and shot one by one.

Archie clenches his jaw and shuts his eyes for a second before opening them and looking right at his friends.

"I'm going to make a distraction and get their focus on me. As soon as I've managed to lead the gunmen away I want you's to make a run for it okay when I give you the signal, go out that door and don't look back" Archie whispers.

Jug's eyes widen "No way in hell!" he whispers angrily to Archie. Betty, Veronica, Kevin and Reggie all nod their heads furiously in agreement.

Archie sighs quietly, "Look before I came in here sirens were surrounding the school. Which means at this point there is S.W.A.T. inside the school. After you's leave, I'll be right behind you okay. Just listen to me for once" Archie whispers.

Jughead is shaking his head furiously this time, tears streaming down his cheeks. Archie sighs before looking at Jug "Screw it", and with that he grabs Jug by the face, kissing him softly.

Pulling apart Archie looks at Jug, "Please just do it okay Jug, help me save them" he begs.

As much Jughead doesn't want to leave Archie, he looks at the scared faces of their friends before turning back to Archie and doing the hardest thing he's ever done.

He nods.

Everything happens quickly after that.

Archie's crawling out from under the table and sneaking off in the direction of one of the shooters.

They wait for the signal and then there running for the door when they hear a tackle, some scuffling, then Archie's yell of "NOW!".

Fred is finishing up some paperwork when one of his men bursts into his office looking pale.

Fred's face contorts into one of concern as he takes in Mark's ashen appearance and the words that come out of Mark's mouth cause Fred's world to stop.

"There's a school shooting at Riverdale High".

Not waiting to hear anything else Fred is grabbing his keys and sprinting for his truck, and with that, he's squealing out of the parking lot.

Headed towards Riverdale High. Towards the shooters. Where his son currently is.

In what should be a ten-minute drive to Riverdale High School, turns out to only be three minutes when you're breaking every speeding law in the book.

When Fred tears into the parking lot of the high school there are News Vans, Police cars, Ambulances, S.W.A.T vans and the sounds of sirens, crying, screaming kids and parents.

Fred is moving by instinct now because everything is happening in slow motion around him.

He frantically looks at the faces of the students that are outside of the school, but he can't spot Archie's.

Meanwhile, Archie is struggling with one of the gunmen on the floor for his life.

Archie manages to knock the gun from the man's hands when he body slams the gunman from behind sending them both sprawling to the floor.

Archie kicks the gun as far away from them as he can and shouts "NOW!", after that, he hears multiple sets of feet running out of the library.

"Nick!?" One of the gunmen calls out.

"Go after them. I've got this fucker!" The man Archie is fighting calls out, and with that, the other killer ran out after his friends.

Archie dodges a fist and rolls back getting to his feet to try and make a run for it, he makes it around one shelf but is quickly hit from behind sending him careening to the floor.

Nick wraps his arms around the kid's throat and hauls him to his feet slamming the teen into one of the shelves.

Archie struggles against the hold around his neck before slamming his elbow back into the man's ribcage, loosening his grip enough for Archie to scramble away but the shooter is back on him in seconds.

The two of them struggle for a few minutes trying to gain the upper hand until Archie catches an elbow to the temple rendering him still, long enough for Nick to grab his gun.

Archie sends a kick to Nick's knee just as he points the gun at him, that has the man grunting in pain. This gives Archie enough time to get his feet under him and then he's running towards the doors of the library like a bat out of hell.

Just as he thinks he's going to make it, the sound of two gunshots goes off one after the other.

Jughead, Betty, Veronica, Kevin and Reggie are sprinting down the halls of the school trying their hardest to ignore the bodies and blood littering the walls and floor.

They hear the sound of heavy footsteps behind them which spurs them to run faster. Just as they round the corner, they come face to face with a group of S.W.A.T who quickly usher the frightened teens behind them.

"One of the shooters was behind us" Reggie manages to rasp out to one of the S.W.A.T members who nods to let them know they've heard.

Everything after that happens in a blur.

The gunmen who had been chasing them rounds the corner and is quickly taken out by S.W.A.T.

Jughead pauses when he looks at the dead shooters body. Making a decision, he turns to Kevin "I'm going back, I can't believe I just left him there" And with that, he's off running back in the direction of the library, his friends and the S.W.A.T yelling after him.

The rest of the group are then their being led out the doors into the complete and utter chaos of crying and screaming families, Sirens and flashing cameras.

Fred just happens to be standing next to one of the Officer's when he hears something over the radio

"I have a visual on the second shooter. There's a struggle between what presumes to be a student. I have a clear shot, but we need to take it quick. The shooter has a gun trained on the student. Permission to fire, sir?"

Fred automatically knows that that's his son their talking about. He can't explain how he knows he just does.

The S.W.A.T soldier in charge grabs the walkie from the man and gives the order to fire.

"Fire".

Archie feels a burning white sensation in his chest. Faltering in his steps, Archie looks down at his chest where a now large patch of crimson was spreading.

Suddenly lightheaded, Archie collapses to his knees with a thud.

Bringing his hand up he presses against the spreading patch, pulling his hand back comes back stained red with warm blood.

He vaguely hears the sound of footsteps running down the hall towards him, but he doesn't pay them any notice, too busy staring at the growing pool of blood pouring out of the hole in his chest.

"Archie? Oh my god ARCHIE!" He hears someone scream.

Jug's heart has stopped beating as soon as he ran through the door and saw Archie on his knees pale and bleeding from the chest.

A quick scan around the room saw a bunch of dead kids and the shooter with a hole through his head.

Archie swayed and fell onto his back. He would have walloped the ground, had it not been for Jughead catching him before he could slam into the floor.

"HELP SOMEBODY PLEASE! I NEED AN AMBULANCE!" Jug screams knowing that there were officers who had ran in after him.

Archie was struggling to breathe now, blood leaking from his mouth, down his cheek.

Jug cradled Archie's head gently in his hand and the other on the wound pulsing with hot, thick blood and stared down at the boy he had loved for four years, dying in his arms.

"Please don't do this Archie, please" Jug begs tears running down his face while pressing down harder on the bullet wound.

Archie arches in pain and coughs up more blood up. He looks up at Jug and smiles seeing Jug safe and unharmed. Using what little strength he has left he lifts his hand shakily up to Jug's cheek.

Jug puts his hand over Archie's to hold it there, so he doesn't use his strength.

Archie grimaces in pain but keeps smiling. It's not a pretty sight, blood covering his teeth and pouring down the side of his face.

"I-I'm g-l-la-d y-yo-" He breaks off coughing, blood speckling his face and arching but he continues anyway "S-s-sa-fe" he smiles despite the all body-encompassing pain.

His vision is beginning to fade and breaths were coming further and further apart now.

"Yeah, we're all safe Archie, we made it because of you. So you can't leave me okay" Jug sobs holding Archie closer to his chest.

"I love you, damn it!" Jug cries, pressing his lips to Archie's cooling, bloody lips.

"L-l-lo-ve y-y-yo-ou t-oo" Archie struggles, his eyes widen briefly, and he looks up at Jughead blurrily "T-t-te-ll D-dad, I l-lov-e h-im" and with that Archie starts to convulse in Jug's arms, fighting for air that he can't seem to get in.

He's choking on his own blood, Jug realises, tears pouring down his face.

Archie's struggles last thirty seconds before he goes still in Jug's arms...lifeless.

Jug panics and shakes Archie, grabbing his bloody face in his hands.

"Archie! Archie please!" Jughead screams for his best friend, but it's fruitless as Archie's lifeless eyes stare up at the roof, once vibrant brown eyes so full of life, now dull and lifeless.

Jughead's screams echo down the hall, and finally, that's when paramedic's and officers burst into the room. But it's pointless it's too late.

Archie's dead.

Fred is panicking now after hearing the words over the radio. His son is still in there.

Not caring Fred breaks past the tape and starts to run through the officers. They make a move to stop him, but he's not letting anyone get in his way.

One officer wraps his arms around Fred, but he fights the man's hold "Let me go! My sons in there!" Fred screams, breaking out of the officer's arms.

"Let him through" he hears the chief officer in charge, and he doesn't need to hear it twice. He's off sprinting down the hall towards the library, growing paler and paler at the site of dead kids and teachers.

Just as he rounds the corner to the library, he sees two paramedics leaving the library looking grim, blood covering their hands.

Fred falters in his steps, heart racing as he nears closer to the library doors. From here he can hear someone sobbing, and that's when it registers. He knows that voice. It's Jughead.

Fred runs right past the paramedics and into the library, and it's sickening, there are bodies and blood everywhere, but that's not what makes him almost fall to his knees.

It's the body lying on the floor next to a sobbing Jughead.

It's his baby boy.

"Oh no...God no!" Fred screams running and falling to his knees beside his boy, scooping his son's lifeless body into his arms. He's immediately soaked in blood, but he doesn't care about that.

"NO, NO, NO!" Fred screams out, wrapping his arms tightly around Archie, rocking him back and forth in his arms.

Fred's sobbing into his boy's hair, heaving for air, crying out "Archie" over and over again. Fred looks down at Archie's face that's covered in blood, and his heart shatters when he meets those lifeless brown eyes.

"Oh god, oh god no, please no" Fred cries, running a hand over his face, unknowingly covering his face with Archie's cooling blood.

Fred throws his back and lets out a guttural scream of loss and pain.

The next few days passed by slowly.

The day after the shooting Archie's and the other people whose lives were lost that fateful day a funeral was held and the whole town and even people from all over came to pay their respects. The media coverage was massive, broadcasting worldwide.

The school holds a memorial for the lives that were lost a week later. Everyone turns up including the news channels that bombard the mourning friends and family.

Archie Andrews is a name that becomes know worldwide as a hero who sacrificed his life to help save his friends and fellow students.

He was a young man who had so much going for him, a football scholarship in the works, his music, his budding romance with Jughead, his father, his whole life, taken to soon.

It turns out the men who had shot up the school were two mad men who had rode into town looking to cause mayhem.

Riverdale high was never the same after the fatal shootings that occurred there.

Two months after the school shooting Fred Andrews couldn't take it anymore and put a bullet through his head. He was found in his son's bedroom four days later.

Years later, a memorial for the lives lost is still held every year on the day the school shooting occurred, and each year Jughead, Betty, Veronica, Kevin, and many others paid their respects to Archie Andrews and the fallen.

Jughead was now a successful published author at the age of twenty-six. He has never forgotten his first love, Archie Andrews; he carries a picture of the two of them when they were just 15 years old and happy in his wallet with him every day.

Betty and Veronica got married at the age of twenty-three and started a family together, and are Name Partners at one of the largest firms in NYC.

Kevin moved on to become a famous fashion designer. He married the love of his life Moose at twenty-five.

Reggie moved on to become one of America's most wanted football players and married a sweet girl he met at one of his games, two years later they had their first child, a baby boy. Archie Dean Mantle.

Each and every day they all know that if not for one Archie Andrews, they wouldn't be standing where they are today, with their loved ones and families of their own.


End file.
